


Fake It Till You Make It

by dojaefairy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29486454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dojaefairy/pseuds/dojaefairy
Summary: When his best friends Kun and Ten announced that they were dating, Doyoung feared they would leave him behind. As it turns out, Kun and Ten had no intention to do so and instead always invite him on their dates, making him feel like a third-wheel. The solution to Doyoung's singleness might come in the form of his handsome coworker Jaehyun, who suggests out of the blue to be his fake boyfriend for a double date with Kun and Ten.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Comments: 18
Kudos: 130





	Fake It Till You Make It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jjaedoyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjaedoyu/gifts).



> Happy birthday Jean! Ever since you had mentioned this plot, I had meant to write it for your birthday. I hope you'll like it and that you'll spend a wonderful day, you're an amazing human being and I'm really happy we've become friends. I hope we'll keep getting closer and talk a lot more about nct and mangas this year again hehe, love you ♡

"Oh and by the way, we're dating!"

Doyoung literally lets go of his chopsticks at the unexpected statement that just left Ten's mouth, and he sends Ten, then Kun, a bewildered look. Ten is grinning, shifting so as to sit closer to Kun, while Kun is scratching his head, probably embarrassed. Doyoung gapes even more as Ten takes hold of Kun's hand and intertwines their fingers.

"Meet Qian Kun, my boyfriend!" Ten proudly announces, followed by Kun uttering a weak "shush, not so loud" without much effect.

Doyoung takes a good look at his two best friends another time, and an astonished "wow" escapes his lips.

"I would've never imagined you two would end up together. Is this a prank?"

"I've been thinking the same thing ever since I agreed to date him," Kun reassures him.

"Hey!" Ten protests, "you kissed me first!"

Kun's face takes an interesting shade of red Doyoung has never seen on anyone else before, and he coughs in his fist. Doyoung clears his throat, picks up his chopsticks slowly sinking in his bowl of ramen, and speaks up again.

"Okay, how about you explain how this happened?" he asks.

He can still barely believe that his best friends started going out together without so much as a warning, and he's especially confused that he did not notice them growing feelings for each other. The three of them have been friends for a good three years now, ever since they got assigned to the same dorms when they started university, and they've never kept secrets from each other.

Back then, Doyoung had no idea Kun and Ten would grow to be his closest confidants and favorite people. His first impressions of them had been that of a hard-working musical genius for Kun and an equally as talented and passionate dance star for Ten, and years later, his best friends still fit those descriptions pretty well.

It's just that he's learnt, over time, what food Kun likes best when he's working on creating tracks and producing music, and what words Ten needs to hear when he's feeling in a slump, struggling to come up with new dance routines. In return, Kun and Ten tease him, make him laugh, compliment him on his singing and on being a good, caring friend for them, and time helped them create the strongest friendship any of them has ever had in their life.

In a way, Doyoung guesses it makes sense for Kun and Ten to have fallen in love. It must've happened as Kun helped Ten with his Chinese classes, tutoring him until late at night even when he was himself swarmed with homework, as Ten offered Kun to dance to his songs for Kun's music videos assignments and as they cuddled "jokingly" when the three of them watched movies in their cramped living room in the dorms.

Doyoung snaps back to reality as Ten gives him a big grin and starts telling him exactly what he had just imagined: the studying sessions that made them spend time together and realize they liked each other as more than friends, the not so subtle flirting that made them wonder whether more was happening between them or not, and finally building up courage on each side to come up to terms with their feelings and fully embrace them.

"So I confessed, Kunnie kissed me, and I asked him out. Obviously, as you can tell, he said yes, and now we're boyfriends," Ten concludes, leaning in on his side to peck Kun on the cheek.

"Well, congratulations," Doyoung says, a bit hesitantly before finally adding with confidence "I'm happy for you two. I hope you won't kill each other and that it'll be fun for you to be together!"

Ten beams while Kun smiles, a very apparent blush still covering his cheeks.

"Thanks Doie," Kun says, his first words in a while. "I also hope it'll be nice dating each other."

"I'm going to take great care of you, you'll see," Ten teases.

"I'll try my best to take care of you as well," Kun answers, and Doyoung feels a bit awkward witnessing the tenderness in their gazes.

It's the first time he sees them look at each other like that, and while he's extremely happy for them, he kind of wishes they'd tone down the affection a little. He is still here, after all, and he doesn't exactly want to see them kiss passionately.

You're jealous, a voice within him whispers, you're jealous because they got each other and you have no one, and you're also worried this is going to impact your friendship because they'll get closer and you'll feel left out.

Doyoung quickly casts aside the first thought, because he's not about to be jealous of his best friends for dating. Well, actually, he might be, because he's so painfully single and suddenly learning the most important people in his life are dating each other is kind of a blow. And well, it's only natural to be worried about their friendship because three is not an easy number to deal with when it comes to friendship, so it's perfectly rational he's a bit worried that Kun and Ten will prefer each other's company to his, now.

"Obviously, that's not going to change anything to our lives," Ten says suddenly, as if he's read his mind. "I mean, we're still gonna live together, all of us, and we're still best friends. Right, Kun?"

"Of course!" Kun confirms, "just because we started dating doesn't mean we're suddenly gonna ignore you or make plans without you."

Doyoung's chest feels warm, and he smiles at them, relieved. See, he tells the voice in his head, there was nothing to be worried about!

* * *

Except that it turns out that Doyoung was worried about the wrong thing. Kun and Ten have in no way made him feel excluded from their friendship – if anything, Doyoung now feels a little too included.

Doyoung isn't sure whether he would've liked being excluded better. Probably not, he muses, but feeling too overly included into a relationship that isn't his doesn't feel good either.

Doyoung feels like he's seen it all, from Kun and Ten cuddling in the kitchen first thing in the morning while Kun is waiting for his coffee to be made, to them cuddling on the couch whenever they force each other to take a well-deserved break watching TV.

He's seen Kun and Ten kiss when ones leaves the house sooner than the other, he's seen them kiss when they welcome each other back home, he's seen Ten try and successfully steal kisses from Kun's lips while the latter cooks, merely resulting in Kun going "Ten!" in a protesting tone but not actively preventing him from kissing him and worst of all, he's seen them make out on either of their beds when they forgot to close the door (and to Doyoung's absolutely non-existent surprise, Ten was the one lying under Kun, moaning).

Doyoung is happy for Kun and Ten, he really is because he loves them so much and he wants nothing more than their happiness, which he is delighted they somehow found in each other. But too much is too much, and Doyoung is nearing his breaking point.

While the kisses are non intentional – and Doyoung won't forbid them to kiss, obviously – the invitations to join their dates very much are and while at first, Doyoung was very happy at the thought of spending time with his best friends, now he's come to regret spending this much time with them.

He thinks Kun and Ten don't realize that the dates are actual dates meant for couples and that these outings make him feel like nothing but a third-wheel, and that feeling is more upsetting than he thought it would be. Not only does he feel sad because they've got some inside jokes he's not a part of, but to boot the flirting between them serves as a reminder that he doesn't have a boyfriend. Kun and Ten seem so good for each other because they know each other so well, and their love is just like the cherry on top.

I want to experience that, Doyoung realizes, I want it so much. But for now, all he can do is swallow down the feeling of bitterness that overcomes him against his will.

* * *

“Again?” Doyoung sighs to himself as he sees the text notification on his phone screen.

Kun just messaged the groupchat they have with Ten to ask if any of them was down for lunch tomorrow at their favorite bakery, and while Doyoung is sure Kun meant well and saw it as an opportunity for them to spend time as friends, Doyoung has a hunch this lunch will just end up in another episode of Doyoung the third-wheel.

“Is there something wrong?”

Doyoung looks up and makes eye contact with Jaehyun, who’s looking at him curiously. Jaehyun is Doyoung’s favorite coworker at his part-time job at the library, and now they’ve even become friends. If Doyoung is completely honest with himself, he’s had a crush on him ever since they were introduced, but he’s never been able to completely accept it nor tell anyone about his feelings.

It’s not Doyoung’s fault that Jaehyun has the face and the body of a model, looking straight out of a magazine, and that to boot, Jaehyun is extremely nice and warm. Doyoung has the tendency to feel uncomfortable around strangers, but he remembers that after one shift working with Jaehyun, he was already feeling good with him.

Enough daydreaming, Doyoung tells himself, Jaehyun just asked him a question.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong per se,” Doyoung starts, “it’s just…”

Jaehyun sends him an encouraging look.

“See, my best friends started dating, and at first I was worried that they’d exclude me to go on dates and such. But they actually invite me whenever they go out, and I’m sure they mean well but I feel like a third-wheel each time and it’s been bothering me.”

Doyoung pauses, and concludes.

“One of them just texted our groupchat to ask if we wanted to have lunch together tomorrow, but I can tell how this is gonna end.”

“Oh,” Jaehyun says, “that sounds… not fun. Like you said, they probably mean well, but I can see why you’d feel this way.”

“If only I had a boyfriend too, at least it’d be a double date,” Doyoung laments before realizing he just blurted that in front of his crush.

“Well, what if I was your boyfriend for tomorrow’s lunch, then?” Jaehyun offers with a grin.

“Eh?” Doyoung goes, not believing his ears, “what?”

“I said, what if I was your boyfriend tomorrow?” Jaehyun repeats, visibly amused with Doyoung’s reaction.

“For real? You mean it?”

“Of course I do, I wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”

Doyoung gulps down.

“Okay so we’re supposed to meet around noon at...”

* * *

To say that Doyoung is nervous would be an understatement. He was so anxious at the idea of going on a date with Jaehyun that he could barely sleep yesterday night, making going through his morning classes a living hell. Great Doyoung, he thinks to himself as he’s heading for the bakery, you’re gonna show up to lunch with your best friends and your crush looking like a fucking zombie.

Doyoung doesn’t get more time to lament over his looks, because he sights Jaehyun already waiting in the park facing the bakery, sitting on a bench and visibly texting. He sighs, hopes his glasses hide the dark circles hurting his eyes, and lazily makes his way to his fake boyfriend for one day. This could go horribly wrong, or there could be a miracle with Jaehyun realizing he also burning feelings of love for Doyoung and they end up dating for real.

As if, Doyoung thinks, focusing again because he’s approaching Jaehyun.

“Hey,” he greets, waving a hand.

“Hello,” Jaehyun greets back, “how are you?”

“Tired as fuck,” Doyoung blurts out.

“Oh no,” Jaehyun says, and he looks genuinely worried, “come here,” he adds, patting the empty spot next to him.

Doyoung does so, and he gasps as Jaehyun hugs him, pulling him close to his chest. Doyoung blushes instantly, and his feels like his cheeks are as hot as lava. What did he do to end up with his face in Jaehyun’s neck?!

“Um, Jaehyun?”

Jaehyun goes “hm?”.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, since we’re boyfriends today I thought I’d do what a good boyfriend would do for you and comfort you. Is it too much? I know we didn’t discuss how much boyfriendly we’d act together.”

“This is fine,” Doyoung squeaks, “I appreciate it very much.”

“Cool,” Jaehyun says, and he sounds kind of smug – but that could be Doyoung misinterpreting things.

They remain cuddling for a few minutes, and Doyoung has forgotten about the date when his phone suddenly rings. Jaehyun breaks the hug while Doyoung picks up the call: it’s Ten, and they’re just a bus station away from the bakery.

“We’ll go inside and get a table then,” Doyoung tells his best friend, who agrees to his suggestion. “See you in a few, Ten.”

“Let’s go?” Jaehyun says, extending his hand towards Doyoung.

Doyoung bites his lower lip and intertwines their fingers, feeling incredibly warm inside.

Kun and Ten join them a few minutes later, and by then Doyoung and Jaehyun have secured a table and menus. Doyoung holds his breath as he waves to his best friends, who are obviously holding hands, and he freezes as Jaehyun squeezes his thigh. They make a quick eye contact, and Jaehyun grins at him, as if to say “it’s fine”.

“Hello there,” Ten greets with a cheeky grin, “Doyoung mentioned you’d be joining us but I wasn’t expecting him to have such a handsome boyfriend!”

“Ten!” Doyoung protests.

Kun rolls his eyes before elbowing Ten, while Jaehyun merely laughs.

“Don’t worry, it’s all good. Thank you, you’re pretty handsome yourself,” Jaehyun answers, not missing a beat, and Doyoung grimaces as he sees Kun frowning.

“You’re too flattering,” Ten grins, siting down in front of Doyoung while Kun takes the seat across Jaehyun. “I’m Ten, and this is my boyfriend Kun.”

“I’m Jaehyun, it’s nice to meet you. Doyoung has told me a lot about you,” Jaehyun says, never parting with his grin.

“He has?” Kun asks, looking at Doyoung with raised eyebrows, “what did he say?”

“Mostly good things,” Jaehyun replies, “enough to make me curious about what kind of people my boyfriend’s best friends are,” he concludes.

Doyoung gulps down at the “boyfriend” mention and he tries his best not to look suspicious. Kun and Ten know him well and he doesn’t want to give himself away by acting up and embarrassing himself in front of them and Jaehyun.

“I told him about you being a pawn of Satan and how you bewitched Kun to date you,” Doyoung grumbles, “no sane person would ever date Ten,” he then tells Jaehyun.

“If I were you, I would be careful about what I say,” Ten tells Doyoung in a sickeningly sweet, threatening tone, “you don’t want to accidentally end up hexed. Moreover, I’m sure you don’t want your boyfriend to find out about all of your embarrassing secrets.”

Doyoung gulps down, and realizes belatedly that he should’ve never told Jaehyun about today’s lunch. This is gonna be a disaster, he thinks, and by the time this lunch ends, he’ll be too ashamed to ever face Jaehyun again and he’ll have to quit his part-time job he struggled so much to get and--

“Ten, please,” Kun sighs, but he’s amused, “Jaehyun is going to believe you really are a witch.”

“Maybe I am,” Ten giggles.

Jaehyun chuckles too, and Doyoung freezes as he intertwines their fingers under the table.

“Doyoung has embarrassing secrets? He hasn’t told me about those.”

Doyoung sends him a panicked look, and Jaehyun’s grin isn’t helping.

“Oh, he has so many,” Ten nods, “it’s our fourth year living together, all three of us, and the things we’ve seen! You wouldn’t believe it. Right, Kun?”

Ten sends a look at his boyfriend, who grins at him. Doyoung isn’t liking how this lunch is turning into a “bully Doyoung session”.

“We’ve seen a lot,” Kun confirms, making Ten and Jaehyun laugh while Doyoung merely gets redder.

At this moment, a waiter comes to their table, and they order food before resuming their conversation.

“Let’s stop teasing him,” Jaehyun suggests, patting Doyoung’s head, “he’s sensitive.”

“Sure,” Ten grins, “how about you tell us how you started dating, then? Because Doyoung has never mentioned a boyfriend before yesterday, and I have trouble believing he hid it from us for a long time.”

“Maybe I didn’t have the time to tell you because you two were too busy sucking faces,” Doyoung retorts, successfully making the couple blush.

Despite his fake confidence, Doyoung doesn’t see how he’s going to justify that he suddenly got himself a boyfriend. Ten is right, him and Kun would definitely know if he ever started dating someone. Moreover, he didn’t have time to go over the details of their fake relationship with Jaehyun, so… he’s fucked.

“Oh, it’s very basic,” Jaehyun answers, to Doyoung’s surprise. “Doyoung may have told you about it but we’re coworkers at the library, that’s how we met. I had a crush on him for the longest time and one day I finally built up the courage to ask him out while we were working, and he agreed to be my boyfriend.”

Kun and Ten are cooing, but Doyoung’s brain stops functioning for a few seconds. While to his best friends, this sounds like a plausible story, to Doyoung there’s something else: why does it sound exactly like what happened yesterday? Does that mean Jaehyun has a crush on him too? But he can’t ask Jaehyun that in front of his best friends!

“That’s really cute,” Kun says, smiling.

“Thank you for dating our Doie, he’s a handful at times but deep down he’s a really nice bunny,” Ten adds.

“Oh, you also think he looks like a bunny?” Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung flushes.

“He totally does!” Ten agrees with enthusiasm, “hold on, there’s this video I found on Youtube and it looks like Doyoung eating!” he adds before taking out his phone from his pocket and looking for said video.

“Ten, no!” Doyoung protests, but Jaehyun squeezes their fingers to catch his attention and gives him a puppy eyes look.

“But I wanna see, that sounds so cute!” Jaehyun says.

Kun snorts and Doyoung is tempted to kick his shin under the table because embarrassing him in front of Jaehyun is not amusing to him.

“W-why do you wanna see when you have the real thing next to you?” Doyoung weakly protests, not believing he just said that aloud.

Jaehyun’s eyes get impossibly fonder and he leans in to peck Doyoung’s cheek.

“Of course I’m happy to have the real Doyoung, but bunny videos are always cute!”

Jaehyun’s kiss makes Doyoung’s brain short-circuit, and he remains frozen in his spot as Ten shows Jaehyun the bunny eating video. By the time they’re done, their food has arrived and they all start eating happily.

“Maybe we should have a bunny or two later,” Jaehyun says, “what do you think, babe?”

Doyoung chokes on his sandwich and it takes him a couple coughs and some water to answer.

“Uh, sure? I don’t know, I’ve never had pets.”

“Oh, really?” Jaehyun asks, “pets are really nice!”

“We want cats but Doyoung’s allergic,” Kun chirps in, “it’s too bad.”

“Are you also allergic to dogs?” Jaehyun says.

“Dogs are fine, it’s just cats,” Doyoung answers with a slight grimace.

Jaehyun nods with a small smile, and Doyoung finds himself smiling back.

As they keep eating, they talk about their personal lives and Kun and Ten are obviously curious about Jaehyun. Doyoung listens as Jaehyun tells them about he’s planning on becoming a sports teacher and how he’s in a taekwondo club, how he also likes singing and dancing and likes cooking too. There’s things Doyoung already knew, others he didn’t, so he holds Jaehyun’s hand the whole time and tries not to stare at him like an idiot in love.

The more Jaehyun talks, the more Doyoung realizes that he doesn’t want this fake relationship to be fake. It was a mistake agreeing to his crush fake dating him, and while he already knew that before, the weight of the truth is sinking in real deep in his heart. He can’t pretend to date Jaehyun, he’s not strong enough to lie about such a thing.

I need to do something, Doyoung realizes, and quick.

He waits for Jaehyun to excuse himself to the bathroom to clear his throat and ask for Kun and Ten’s attention.

“Man, you really got yourself a cute boyfriend,” Kun says.

“It’s obvious he loves you,” Ten agrees, “and you’re a really good match!”

“Actually, about that… it’s all fake,” Doyoung confesses.

He feels lighter now that he’s admitted his lie, and the confusion on his best friends’ faces is apparent.

“What?” Kun says.

“Jaehyun is not my boyfriend,” Doyoung elaborates, “he just offered to fake date me today because… because I was feeling bad.”

Kun and Ten share a look, but they know better than to interrupt Doyoung when the latter is trying to collect his thoughts.

“It’s been going on for a while, but it all started when you began dating. I was really happy for you and I still am, but I was afraid we’d grow distant since now you were a couple and all. Then you made sure I was always included in your activities, and while I’m thankful, I’ve been feeling like a third-wheel more than anything else. I’m sorry for not telling you before and instead coming up with a whole fake boyfriend scheme.”

There’s a pause, and Doyoung is staring down at the table to avoid meeting his friends’ eyes. Then there’s the sound of a chair rattling on the floor, and Doyoung looks up as he’s pulled into a hug.

“I’m sorry, I had no idea you felt this way,” Ten apologizes as he hugs him.

“I’m sorry too,” Kun says, “I’m really sorry we made you feel bad.”

“It’s okay, I feel better now that I’ve told you,” Doyoung says, returning Ten’s hug for a few seconds before they break away and Ten sits back.

“Let’s try to be more careful,” Kun tells Ten, “Doyoung, feel free to tell us when you feel uncomfortable, okay? I think that because Tennie and I are still excited about being a couple, sometimes we don’t realize we overdo it.”

“I will,” Doyoung grins, “thank you.”

Jaehyun comes back from the bathroom at that moment and after he sits down, he sends Doyoung a confused look.

“Um, am I interrupting something?”

Doyoung shakes his head.

“I told them that we were only pretending to be together and we worked things out.”

“Oh.”

There’s a pause, and Jaehyun clears his throat.

“Speaking of which, Doyoung… I know I suggested to be your fake boyfriend for today, but what do you think of making it real starting from, um, tomorrow?”

Everyone freezes and Doyoung gapes, staring at Jaehyun like he grew a second head. Ten is the first one to snap back to reality and he grabs Kun’s hand.

“Excellent idea, you two discuss that and we’ll go so you can talk about it in private! I’m paying for the food today so take your time!”

He sends a pointed look to Doyoung that screams “tell me about the details later” and heads for the counter to pay, Kun in tow.

Doyoung is still shocked, and his sole functioning braincell is just marveling at how cute Jaehyun looks, all flushed and biting his lips. He bites his own lower lip, enough to hurt, and knows if he wants to answer, it’s now or never.

“Why wait for tomorrow?” he answers, his voice shaking.

Jaehyun looks up with stars in his eyes, and he audibly gulps down.

“You mean it?”

“I… yeah, I like you a lot,” Doyoung confesses, looking away.

“I like you too,” Jaehyun also confesses in a soft voice.

He takes Doyoung’s hand, and they make eye contact.

“So, uh, you and me, boyfriends?” Doyoung babbles, his vocabulary failing him.

“Yeah, boyfriends,” Jaehyun confirms before leaning in.

Jaehyun’s lips, Doyoung learns, taste as sweet as they look.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't hesitate to let me know if you liked this piece ♡♡
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/dojaefairy) | [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.qa/dojaefairy)


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